BEWARE the wounded Eagles and pity the injured Tigers.
Goodna bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 54-18 win over Norths at Keith Sternberg Oval yesterday.
To say Norths were injury-depleted is an understatement.
They were without six players from the previous week's loss to Swifts, on top of another five out injured.
The club was forced to forfeit its Division 2 clash on Friday night to ensure there were enough players to fill A and Reserve grades yesterday. With the FOGS Cup competition having a bye weekend, dual-signed fullback Jarrod Biggs returned to his IRL club to help out. There were times Biggs and five-eighth Josh Roberts managed to produce some of their magic of old but it was nowhere near enough.
Goodna flew to a 16-0 lead in the first 15 minutes before Norths managed to cross twice to make it 16-8, with Biggs scoring the second after putting centre Uonamu Teesi through a hole. Goodna struck back just as quickly though and led 26-8 at halftime.
Where Norths struggled to find enough fit bodies, Goodna were able to hand an A grade debut to winger Lui Lui who proved he would be playing A grade at any other club, scoring three tries with his pace and footwork.
Roberts raised Norths' hopes early in the second half when he scored but that was to be the last of the cheering for the home fans.
Goodna captain Craig Wehrman was pleased to see his team back in the winner's circle but was not entirely happy with the performance.
"Forty out of the 80 minutes were pretty good," he said.
"I do think everyone is looking forward to the break."
Wehrman admitted his team has struggled to hit its straps since beating premiership rivals Brothers and Swifts last month and next week's bye weekend will be a chance to refresh. "It was always going to be hard (against Norths)," he said. "We don't write anyone off but Norths were below what they should have been. They've got a lot of players out. The break will be good. Hopefully we can start again."
Wehrman was delighted with the performance of Lui and predicted coach Anthony Fowler will have a headache working out who to leave out when the likes of Ben Seve and Paul Falekakala are fit to resume playing.
For Biggs, it was not the return to his beloved Keith Sternberg Oval he had hoped for.
"It didn't work out as planned, which is a bit disappointing," last season's IRL player of the year said. "A few of the boys had the day off for injury or work but our attitude could have been better."
In the weekend's other match, Swifts beat South Burnett 40-28 at T J O'Neil Oval, Kingaroy.
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